MAMADOU SAKHO has labelled Liverpool's showdown with Manchester City as "D-day" saying it could be "the biggest league match Liverpool have played in 24 years".

Mamadou Sakho reckons his Liverpool side are fired up and ready for Man City[GETTY ]

The France international looked ahead to Sunday's potentially title-defining meeting by also revealing he predicted Brendan Rodgers' side would compete for the Premier League crown as far back as last summer when he joined the club from Paris St Germain.

Sakho returned to Liverpool's line-up for the victory over West Ham last Sunday to make his first appearance in 2014 following a hamstring problem.

Liverpool's title juggernaut has gathered ominous moment since the turn of the year, gleaning 38 points from a possible 42, to leave the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini's side at Anfield as another pivotal match in their quest for a first title since 1990.

Centre-back Sakho was just four months old when Liverpool last tasted championship success and said: "Of course this could be the biggest league match Liverpool have played in 24 years.

"It's a match where you win three points but it's worth a lot more. It is a match that will place the winner in the best position to go and win the title.

"Ever since I arrived at the club, since the first month, I said it. I told my team-mates that we are capable of winning the title. We have the quality and we just have to believe it. And voila...as the season progressed we saw Liverpool grow in strength playing such beautiful football.

"We've not stolen the position where we are today. We deserve it to be where we are today.

The centre-back has thanked Brendan Rodgers for bringing him back into the Liverpool fold [GETTY]

We will see on D-day who is better prepared to take the points

Mamadou Sakho

"We are confident about facing City's strikers. They do score a lot of goals but so do we. It will be two beautiful attacks against two strong defences. It's a top match pitting two top teams against each other fighting for the title.

"We will see on D-day who is better prepared to take the points."

Sakho warned Liverpool will be ready for "combat" and was colourful in his description of himself on his return to the team as he praised Rodgers' ability to ensure the harmony in his squad has not suffered during the course of the campaign.

"I felt like a lion before the match against West Ham," said Sakho. "I was hungry to come back and come back strongly.

"He [Rodgers] manages to get the maximum out of every player. It's hugely important and not every coach has that charisma.

"He must keep all the players interested and each time he calls up a player they respond with a performance. It has been four months since I played due to injury and I had the chance to express myself against West Ham and I was there. The same goes for Lucas. It shows the spirit that reigns in this team."

For Sakho the pressure will be no more intense than France's World Cup play-off against Ukraine when they trailed 2-0 after the first leg, but won the return 3-0 with him scoring twice.

The French international scored the goals needed to see his nation qualify for the World Cup [GETTY]

Of his mindset ahead of all games, he added: "For me it is war and I'm not afraid of anyone. I do boxing in addition to my normal training and I am having my punchbag and boxing kit sent over from France.

"Before I joined Liverpool I fought at a Paris gym owned by the kickboxing champion Aurelien Duarte and I trained with his cornerman Alex - a crazy Serb. Alex said I have levels of fury he has not seen in some fighters.

"Before the France-Ukraine game I prepared as though I was going into a boxing ring, intending to tear my opponents apart. I told myself that nobody was going to get past me.

"The fury I had in me that night still remains in me. It could be anger about the way my life has gone.

"When I was a kid in Paris I used to stand by the ring road and wash car windscreens. I used to take a plastic mineral water bottle with a bit of washing-up liquid and clean car windows with my mates to earn a few coins.

"I used to play truant a lot as a kid. I was a rebel and it was hard for my parents with six kids to look after."